Control system for separate as well as simultaneous operation of remote working elements



1966 cs. PAPAICONOMOU 3,279,323

CONTROL SYSTEM FOR SEPARATE AS WELL AS SIMULTANEOUS OPERATION OF REMOTEWORKING ELEMENTS Filed Sept. 4, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 G. PAPAICONOMOUOPERATION OF REMOTE WORKING ELEME Flled Sept 4, 1962 Aug. 30, 1966 2 t ee h cw MS t e M M8 M52 MT IN S S A L L E W S A E T A R A P E S R OCONTROL SYSTEM F INVENTOR. 660/266 PAflfl/CO/VOMOU BY HIS .0 TTOENEYSNQRUMRWQ WERE wQiQ k QwEwiS E wwtbqg um United States Patent 3,270,323CONTROL SYSTEM FOR SEPARATE AS WELL AS SIMULTANEOUS OPERATION OF REMOTEWORKING ELEMENTS George Papaiconomou, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Ledex,Inc., Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 4, 1962, Ser. No.221,178 4 Claims. (Cl. 340-171) This invention relates to a remotecontrol circuit and more particularly to circuitry for encoding inputinformation to produce frequency signals representing the states of aplurality of control elements, transmitting the frequency signals on acarrier Wave to a remote station, receiving the frequency signals at theremote station, and decoding the frequency signals so as to initiateoperation of working elements corresponding to the local controlelements. However, the invention is not necessarily so limited.

The simplest remote control circuits involve a single local controlelement, a single remote working element, and means to transmit a signalfrom the local control element to initiate operation of the remoteworking element. More complicated circuits involve a plurality of localcontrol elements and an equal number of remote working elements and, toavoid a scrambling of the signals transmitted from the local to theremote station, a different signal frequency is assigned to each controlelement and corresponding working element. In such circuits each workingelement responds to one and only one control element. These pluralfrequency circuits have an important limitation, however, in that it isordinarily not practical with a single transmitter and a single receiverto transmit two frequencies simultaneously and thereby initiatesimultaneous operation of two working elements. In other words, a remotecontrol circuit of the type described is not ordinarily amenable to thecontrol of remote control apparatus having a plurality of individualworking elements which are sometimes required to operate simultaneously.

An object of the present invention is to provide an encoder fortranslating information derived from a plurality of control elements,each having an operative and Ian inoperative state, to a single signalfrequency representative of the combined states of the control elements.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a decoder fortranslating a single signal frequency representative of the combinedstates of a series of control elements, each having an operative and aninoperative state,into operative and inoperative states of workingelements responding to the control elements.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simplifiedremote control circuit for regulating at one time the operation of morethan one remote working element.

' Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, thecombination thereof, the method of manufacture and the mode ofoperation, as will become more apparent from the following description.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a wiring diagram of an encoder and associated transmitteremployed in the subject remote control circuit.

FIGURE 2 is a combined Wiring diagram and schematic illustration of areceiver and decoder employed in the subject remote control circuit.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, FIGURE 1 illustrates acircuit diagram for a circuit for transmitting signal frequenciesrepresenting the states of local control elements adapted to control theoperation of a remote mechanism. For convenience, the circuit of FIG-See URE 1 may be subdivided into three subcircuits namely, an encodingcircuit, a modulation oscillator circuit and a high frequency carrierwave transmitter circuit.

Encoding circuit The encoding circuit includes three control elements10, 12 and 14, which are adapted to be operated locally so as to controlthe operation of a remote mechanism. The control element 10 comprises adouble pole double throw switch having poles 10a and 10b. The controlelement 12 comprises a triple pole double throw switch having poles 12a,12b and 120. The control element 14 comprises a triple pole double throwswitch having poles 14a, 14b and 140. Each of the control elements 10,12 and 14 is illustrated in an inoperative or inactive position.

In the operation of the particular circuit disclosed, it is intendedthat the control elements may be operated individually one at a timeand, at certain times, certain of the control elements may be operatedsimultaneously in pairs. More specifically, it is intended that each ofthe control elements may be operated individually to accomplish a givenfunction in the remote apparatus, there being a separate function foreach control element and, further, certain pairs of control elements maybe operated simultaneously, so that their particular functions areaccomplished simultaneously in the remote mechanism.

In the circuit of FIGURE 1, each of the control elements 10, 12 and 14when operated performs two functions. One function is that of completingan electrical circuit for supplying electrical power from a battery 16to the modulation oscillator and to the transmitter. As will bedescribed more fully subsequently, the positive terminal of the battery16 is permanently connected to both the modulation oscillator and thetransmitter by means of conductor 18. The negative terminal of the'battery 16 is engaged by conductor 20, which, upon operation of any ofthe control elements 10, 12 or 14, is connected to a conductor 22leading to the negative side of both the modulation oscillator and thetransmitter. The connection between the conductors 20 and 22 is effectedwith the poles 10a, 12a and 14a of the control elements 10, 12 and 14.Thus, movement of any one of the control elements 10, 12 and 14 to itsoperative position, or movement of any combination of these controlelements to their operative positions, completes the power supply to themodulation oscillator and to the transmitter.

The second function accomplished in the circuit of FIG- URE 1 throughoperation of the control elements 10, 12 and 14 is that of selecting aresistance value for insertion into the modulation oscillator to selectan operating fre quency for the modulation oscillator. Morespecifically, the resistance value is inserted in a timing circuit forthe modulation oscillator.

The resistance values available for selection are represented by thevariable resistances 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32, each of which is connectedto the postive terminal of the battery 16 by means of the conductor 34.The insertion of any of these resistances into the timing circuit isaccomplished by placing the opposite end of the resistance incommunication with a conductor 36, which communicates with a variableresistance 38. A more detailed desc-ription of the timing circuit andits operation will be given subsequently.

It Will be apparent from an inspection of FIGURE 1 that, upon operationof the control element 10 only, the pole 10b operates to connect theresistance 30 to the conductor 36 through the medium of poles 12b and14b of the control elements 12 and 14. Similarly, upon operation of thecontrol element 12 only, the pole 12c thereof places the resistance 26in communication with the conductor 36 through the medium of pole 140 ofcontrol element 14 and pole b of control element 10. Upon operation ofthe control element 14 only, the pole 14c thereof places the resistance24 in communication with the conductor 36 through the medium of the pole10b of control element 10. Thus, the control elements 10, 12 and 14 arecapable of individually selecting the resistances 30, 26 and 24respectively, for controlling the timing of the modulation oscillator.

The frequency selector disclosed is also intended to accommodatesimultaneous operation of the control elements 10 and 12 and of thecontrol elements 10 and 14. Upon simultaneous operation of the controlelements 10 and 12, the resistance 28 is placed in communication withthe conductor 36 through the medium of poles 10b, 14b and 12b.Similarly, upon simultaneous operation of the control elements 10 and14, the resistance 32 is placed in communication with the conductor 36through the medium of poles 10b and 14b. Thus, the resistance 28establishes a modulation oscillator frequency which is representative ofthe simultaneous operation of control elements 10 and 12, while theresistance 32 establishes a modulationfrequency which is representativeof the simultaneous operation of the control elements 10 and 14. Intotal, the encoder is capable of selecting five different operatingfrequencies, determined by the resistances 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32. Threeof these five frequencies can be said to repre-' sent the operation ofone only of the control elements 10, 12 and 14, while the other twofrequencies can be said to represent simultaneous operation of certainpairs of the control elements 10, 12 and 14.

Modulation oscillator The modulation oscillator utilizes two PNPtransistors 40 and 42 and a third transistor 44 which is a PNunijunction transistor. The transistors 40 and 42 are operated togetheras a flip-flop circuit. For this purpose, the emitters 46 and 48 of thetransistors 40 and 42, respectively, are jointly connected to thepositive terminal of the battery through resistances 50 and 52 andconductor 18. The collectors 54 and 56 of the transistors 40 and 42,respectively, are connected to the negative terminal of the batterythrough resistances 58 and 60 and conductor 22, subject to the controlof the control elements 10, 12 and 14.

The bases 62 and 64 of the transistors 40 and 42, respectively, areconnected to the positive terminal of the battery through resistances 68and 70 respectively. Further, the base 62 of the transistor 40 isconnected to the collector 56 of the transistor 42 through a parallelcircuit including the resistance 76 and the capacitance 78. Similarly,the base 64 of the transistor 42 is connected to the collector 54 of thetransistor 40 through a parallel circuit including the resistance 72 andthe capacitance 74.

In operation, either the transistor 40 or 42 becomes conductive from itsemitter to collector circuit upon application of power to the flip-flopcircuit, while the other transistor is non-conductive. The states ofthese two transistors are reversed whenever a pulse of sufficientmagnitude occurs across the resistance 52.

Such pulse is supplied by a timing circuit including the uni-junctiontransistor 44. The first base 80 of this transistor is connected to thenegative terminal of the battery through a resistance 82. The secondbase 84 receives a positive bias through resistances 86, 50 and 52. Theemitter 90 of the uni-junction transistor 44 connects to one plate of acapacitance 92 which is charged at a rate determined by the resistancevalue selected in the encoder circuit, combined with the value of theresistance 38 and the resistance 52.

Th operation of the timing circuit is as follows. Upon operation of anyof the control elements 10, 12 or 14, the capacitance 92 charges at arate dependent upon the particular resistance selected in the encodercircuit until such time as the potential difference between the emitterand first base of the uni-junction transistor reaches a critical value.When this critical value has been reached, the

uni-junction transistor 44 fires, creating a conductive path between itsemitter and the first base 80. This conductive path permits thecapacitance 92 to discharge through the resistor 82, creating a voltagepulse across the resistance 52 sufficient to cause the transistors 40and 42 in the flip-flop circuit to exchange states. When the capacitance92 has discharged below a critical level, the resistance in the emitterto first base section of the unijunction transistor returns to a highlevel, initiating a new timing cycle.

It will be apparent from the foregoing discussion that the chargingcycle for the capacitance 92 is dependent upon the particular resistancevalue selected in the selector circuit for combination with thecapacitance 92 and for each resistance-capacitance combination selectedthere will be a different oscillating frequency in the modulationoscillator.

High frequency carrier wave transmitter The transmitter includes a PNPtransistor 94 having an emitter 96 which is connected to the collectorof the transistor 40 in the flip-flop circuit through a resistance 98and a capacitor 97 in parallel. The base 99 of the transsitor 94connects to the negative terminal of the battery through a resistance100 and connects to the collector 54 of the transistor 40 in theflip-flop circuit through resistance 100 and a capacitance 102.

The collector 104 connects to the negative terminal of the batterythrough a tuned circuit including an inductance coil 106 and acapacitance 108. The oscillating frequency is controlled by a crystal110 connected between the base 99 of transistor 94 and a tap in theinductance coil 106. The oscillations are transmitted by means of anantenna 112 connected to the aforementioned center tap of the coil 106.

The transmitter operates at two power levels, depending upon theconducting states of the transistors 40 and 42 in the flip-flop circuit.When the transistor 40* is non-conductive and, conversely, thetransistor 42 is conductive, the emitter 96 of the transmittertransistor 94 connects to the positive terminal of the battery throughparallelresistance paths, the first including the resistance 98,resistance 72 and resistance 70 and the second including the resistance52, the resistance 50', the emitter to base section of transistor 42,and the resistance 72. When, however, the transistor 40 is conductingand the transistor 42 is non-conductive, a lower resistance path existsthrough the emitter to collector section of transistor 40, this pathincluding the resistances 98, 50 and 52. When the transistor 40 of theflip fiop circuit is conducting, the transmitter broadcasts a signal oflarge amplitude and when the transistor 40 is non-conductive, the signaldrops to a comparatively small amplitude.

In the preferred embodiment, the transmitter operates in the radiofrequency range and the modulation oscillator is designed to operate inthe audio frequency range. Accordingly, the output of the transmittercomprises a carrier wave having a radio frequency which has beenmodulated in amplitude to carry an audio frequency signal. As discussedpreviously, the particular audio frequency transmit-ted is dependentupon the particular one of five resistance values selected in theselector circuit.

FIGURE 2 illustrates a circuit for receiving and decoding the signalgenerated by the circuit of FIGURE 1. The receiver is a conventionalsuperheterodyne receiver including an RF amplifier and converter, an IFamplifier, a detector and an audio amplifier. The output of the audioamplifier, which comprises a signal of the same frequency as thatproduced in the modulation oscillator in the circuit of FIGURE 1, isimpressed upon a solenoid coil 200. This frequency signal is decodedwith the following circuit.

Decoding circuit A plurality of vibratory reeds 202, 204, 206, 208 and210 are placed in the vicinity of the coil 200, so as to respond to themagnetic field thereof. Electrical contacts 216, 218, 220, 222 and 224are positioned, one adjacent each of the vibratory reeds, so as tocontact the adjacent reed when such reed is caused to vibrate by themagnetic field created by the coil 200. Each of the reeds is grounded,as shown and, accordingly, with vibration of any one of the reeds, thecontact adjacent that particular reed is intermittently grounded due tointermittent contact with the reed. For example, upon vibration of thereed 206, the adjacent contact 220 is intermittently grounded.

The contact 220 connects through resistances 226 and 228 to the base 230of a PNP transistor 232. The emit ter 234 of this transistor connectsthrough resistance 236 to the positive terminal of a battery 238. Thebattery 238 is grounded at its negative terminal. A resistance 240,connecting the base 230 to the positive terminal of the battery,provides a positive base bias. A grounded relay coil 244 is connected tothe collector 242 of the transistor 232.

In the circuit described, it will be apparent that intermittentgrounding of the contact 220 due to vibration in the reed 206 will allowan emitter base current in the transistor 232 which, in turn, permits acurrent to flow from the battery 238 through the transistor 232 andthrough the relay coil 244. A capacitance 246, connected between groundand the base circuit of the transistor 23 2, as shown, maintains thebase current during those intervals when the reed 202 is intermittentlyseparated from the contact 216. It follows that vibration of the reed206 results in energization of the relay coil 244. When the reed 206ceases to vibrate, a diode 248 across the relay coil discharges thecoil.

Referring to the circuit of FIGURE 1, it has been noted that operationof the control element individually produces a modulation oscillatorfrequency determined by the resistance element 30. The reed 206 is tunedto vibrate at the frequency established by the resistance element 30and, accordingly, the relay coil 244 can be used to initiate anoperation which is controlled by the control element 10.

Utilizing a substantially duplicate circuit involving the transistor250, a relay coil 252 is made responsive to the vibration of thevibratory reed 202. With still another substantially duplicate circuitutilizing the transistor 254, a relay coil 256 is made responsive tovibration of the vibratory reed 210. The reed 202 may be tuned to afrequency established by the resistance element 26 in FIGURE 1 and,accordingly, vibrates subject to the control of the control element 12.Similarly, the reed 210 may be tuned to vibrate to the frequencyestablished by the resistance element 24 in FIGURE 1, whereupon therelay 256 operates subject to control of the control element 14.Accordingly, the relays 244, 252 and 256 respond directly to the controlelements 10, 12 and 14 when these control elements are operatedindividually.

As mentioned previously, it is contemplated that the control elements 10and 12 may be operated simultaneously and, furthermore, the controlelements 10 and 14 may be operated simultaneously. Also, it has beenpreviously noted that simultaneous operation of the control elements 10and 12 establishes a modulation frequency determined by the resistanceelement 28, while simultaneous operation of the control elements 10 and14 establishes a modulation frequency determined by the resistanceelement 32 in FIGURE 1. In accordance with this arrangement, thevibratory reed 204 in FIGURE 2 may be tuned to the oscillator frequencyestablished by the resistance element 28 and the vibratory reed 208 inFIGURE 2 may be tuned to vibrate at the oscillator frequency establishedby the resistance element 32 in FIGURE 1.

The contact 218 adjacent the vibratory reed 204 is coupled to each ofthe contacts 216 and 220 through opposed diodes 260 and 262,respectively, such diodes being unidirectional current conductors.Accordingly, when the vibratory reed 204 vibrates, conductivity isestablished in both the transistors 232 and 250, with the result thatboth relay coils 244 and 252 are energized. Thus, simultaneous operationof the control elements 10 and 12 of FIGURE 1 results in simultaneousenergization of their corresponding relay coils 244 and 252.

The contact 222, which is adjacent the vibratory reed 208, is similarlycoupled to the contacts 220 and 224 through opposed diodes 264 and 266.As a result of this coupling, vibration of the reed 208 results insimultaneous operation of the relay coils 244 and 256, which correspondto the control elements 10 and 14. Thus, simultaneous operation of thecontrol elements 10 and 14 results in simultaneous energization of theircorresponding relay coils 244 and 256.

In the foregoing, means have been described for producing frequencysignals representative of the states of the control elements 10, 12 and14 and for decoding the frequency signals, so as to cause the relayelements 244, 252 and 256 to respond to operation of the controlelements, a notable feature of the circuitry described being that, incertain cases, simultaneous operation of certain of the control elementsestablishes a representative frequency, which will cause simultaneousoperation of their corresponding relays.

Although the preferred embodiment of the device has been described, itwill be understood that within the pur- View of this invention variouschanges may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrnagement ofparts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, which gen erallystated consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects setforth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A decoder for translating coded information in the form of frequencysignals, said decoder comprising a solenoid coil, receiver meansconnected with said solenoid coil adapted to receive and impress saidfrequency signals on said coil, first and second vibratory reedspositioned for interaction with the magnetic field of said coil, saidfirst and second reeds being tuned to vibrate at different first andsecond signal frequencies, first and second work elements correspondingto said first and second reeds, a first circuit completed by said firstreed upon vibration thereof for operating the work element correspondingto said first reed, a second circuit completed by sai second reed uponvibration thereof for operating said second work element, a thirdvibratory reed positioned for interaction with the magnetic field ofsaid coil and tuned to vibrate in response to a third frequency signaldifferent than said first and second frequency signals, and meansconnected between said first and second circuits and responsive tovibration of said third reed to simultaneously complete said first andsecond circuits and thereby simultaneously operate said first and secondWork elements.

2. The decoder according to claim 1 wherein said third means includes .acontact element for engaging said third reed on vibration thereof andfirst and second unidirectional current conductors connecting said firstand second circuits respectively with said contact, said first andsecond unidirectional current conductors cooperating to oppose currentflow between said first and second circuits.

3. A decoder for translating coded information in the form of frequencysignals, said decoder comprising a solenoid coil, receiver meansconnected with said sole noid coil adapted to receive and impress saidfrequency signals on said coil, first and second vibratory memberspositioned for interaction with the magnetic field of said coil, saidfirst and second members being tuned to vibrate at different first andsecond signal frequencies, first and second work elements correspondingto said first and second members, a first circuit energizable to operatethe Work element corresponding to said first member, means responsive tovibration of said first member to energize said first circuit, a secondcircuit energizable to operate said second work element, meansresponsive to vibration .of said second member to energize said secondcircuit, a third vibratory member positioned for interaction with themagnetic field of said coil and tuned to vibrate in response to a thirdfrequency signal different than said first and second frequency signals,and third means connected between said first and second circuits andresponsive to vibration of said third member to simultaneously energizesaid first and second circuits and thereby simultaneously operate saidfirst and second work elements.

4. A decoder for translating coded information in the form of frequencysignals, said decoder comprising: a solenoid coil; receiver meansadapted to receive and impress said frequency signals on said coil;first, second and third vibratory members positioned for interactionwith the magnetic field of said coil; saidfirst, second and thirdvibratory members each being tuned to resonate at a different frequency;first, second and third circuits each including a work element and eachbeing energizable from a source of power effective to operate the workelement therein, said circuits relating, respectively, to said first,second and third vibratory members; each said circuit including meansresponsive to resonant vibration of the related vibratory member toenergize said circuit from said source and thereby operate the workelement in said circuit; fourth and fifth vibratory members positionedfor interaction with the magnetic field of said coil and each tuned toresonate at a frequency different than the other and different'thantheresonant frequencies of said first, second and third members; meansconnected between said first and second circuits and responsive toresonant vibration of said fourth member to simultaneously energize saidfirst and second circuits from said source and thereby simultaneouslyoperate the Work elements in said first and second circuits, and meansconnected between said second and third circuits and responsive toresonant vibration of said fifth member to simultaneously energize saidsecond and third circuits from said source and hereby simultaneouslyoperate the Work elements in said second and third circuits.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,144,779 1/ 1939Schlesinger M 331179 X 2,203,871 6/ 1940 Koch 340-33 2,388,531 11/1945Deal 325364 X 2,540,727 2/1951 Hanert 331179 2,559,622 7/1951 Hildyard340-171 2,598,790 6/1952 Harrison 33l179 X 2,668,232 2/ 1954 Tunick325-139 2,894,123 7/ 1959 Hansell 325139 2,997,665 8/ 1961 Sylvan3()788.5 3,047,778 7/1962 Gibson 317138 3,128,451 4/1964 Lewis 340-171NEIL C. READ, Primary Examiner.

P. XIARHOS, T. B. HABECK-ER, Assistant Examiners,

1. A DECODER FOR TRANSLATING CODED INFORMATION IN THE FORM OF FREQUENCYSIGNALS, SAID DECODER COMPRISING A SOLENOID COIL, RECEIVER MEANSCONNECTED WITH SAID SOLENOID COIL ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND IMPRESS SAIDFREQUENCY SIGNALS ON SAID COIL, FIRST AND SECOND VIBRATORY REEDSPOSITIONED FOR INTERACTION WITH THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF SAID COIL, SAIDFIRST AND SECOND REEDS BEING TUNED TO VIBRATE AT DIFFERENT FIRST ANDSECOND SIGNAL FREQUENCIES, FIRST AND SECOND WORK ELEMENTS CORRESPONDINGTO SAID FIRST AND SECOND REEDS, A FIRST CIRCUIT COMPLETED BY SAID FIRSTREED UPON VIBRATION THEREOF FOR OPERATING THE WORK ELEMENT CORRESPONDINGTO SAID FIRST REED, A SECOND CIRCUIT COMPLETED BY SAID SECOND REED UPONVIBRATION THEREOF FOR OPERATING SAID SECOND WORK ELEMENT, A THIRDVIBRATORY REED POSITIONED FOR INTERACTION WITH THE MAGNETIC FIELD OFSAID COIL AND TUNED TO VIBRATE IN RESPONSE TO A THIRD FREQENCY SIGNALS,DIFFERENT THAN SAID FIRST AND SECOND FREQUENCY SIGNALS, AND MEANSCONNECTED BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND CIRCUITS AND RESPONSIVE TOVIBRATION OF SAID THIRD REED TO SIMULTANEOUSLY COMPLETE SAID FIRST ANDSECOND CIRCUITS AND THEREBY SIMULTANEOUSLY OPERATE SAID FIRST AND SECONDWORK ELEMENTS.